Sudbury 5, Ashland 1: Longo lifts Post 191 in Legion win

With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s Zone 5A American Legion baseball game, Sudbury manager Len Noce turned to Patrick Longo. He delivered. Longo’s three-run, pinch-hit double in the fifth inning was the big blow as Sudbury defeated Ashland, 5-1, at Ashland Middle School.

By Henry Schwan/Daily News correspondent

Milford Daily News

By Henry Schwan/Daily News correspondent

Posted Jun. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 20, 2013 at 8:04 PM

By Henry Schwan/Daily News correspondent

Posted Jun. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 20, 2013 at 8:04 PM

ASHLAND

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With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s Zone 5A American Legion baseball game, Sudbury manager Len Noce turned to Patrick Longo.

"I’ve been watching Patrick, he’s been working really hard," Noce said after his club improved to 3-0. "We haven’t given him many opportunities. He’s had a hard time at the plate, even through the spring. His spring was tough, but I figured what the heck."

Longo’s spring was tough, because he didn’t get much playing time on the Lincoln-Sudbury varsity squad. In his own words, he played "sparingly" for the Warriors, but Noce had a hunch and brought in Longo to pinch-hit for Gino Fordiani, who was hitless in two plate appearances.

Longo fell behind 0-2 to Ashland starter Connor Birch.

"The second pitch, he threw a real good curve ball and I took a bad swing at it and I was down 0-2," Longo said. "If I was the pitcher, I would throw me another curveball. So I moved up in the box, I choked up, and I just wanted to get the barrel on the ball. It worked out."

Longo roped a double to left centerfield that scored Joe Euele, Rory McHarg, and Bob Peterson to give Post 191 a 5-1 lead.

"It felt awesome," Longo said of his double that cleared the bases." I really appreciated coach giving me the chance to have that at-bat. He believed in me, so it felt good all around."

Birch showed signs of struggling before Longo’s hit.

Ashland manager Dan Sullivan left the dugout to talk to his pitcher after a walk to Euele, who took second after a wild pickoff attempt by Birch. A McHarg single brought Euele to third.

"Connor is a guy we want out there," Sullivan said. "In his last start he worked out of those jams. In this start he put himself in position to work out of them again."

Birch then hit Peterson to load the bases, and Longo then broke it open with his double.

While Sudbury delivered with the bases loaded, it was a different story for Ashland (3-2).

Kevin Guiliano grounded back to Sudbury reliever Alex McLaughlin with the bases loaded to end the sixth.

Brendan Thurber struck out on a McLaughlin fastball with the bases loaded to end the ballgame.

"We put ourselves in a good position late in the game, but today the balls weren’t quite falling for us," Guiliano said.

In the first inning, Robbie Oliphant (two hits) scored on a fielder’s choice to give Sudbury a 1-0 lead.

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An RBI double by Ashland’s Peter Dassoni tied the score at 1-1 in the second. McLaughlin scored on a fielder's choice in the third to give Sudbury a 2-1 lead.

But it was Longo’s smash that broke the game open.

"I proved to myself that I could do it," he said. "I knew I could do it. … Moving forward I feel a lot more confident."